Other Worlds - The Wilds

Chapter 28

  The presentation was in 10 minutes and the only thing Toni could think about was how badly she didn't want to vomit in front of the whole class. The more she thought about it the more sick she felt and the more it felt like a possibility.

  There was so much riding on this for her. She was desperate to get back on the court and honestly, she wanted to be able to say that Carol wasn't able to hold her back this time. That she was strong enough to push through this and live her life despite Carol.

  She tried halfheartedly to listen to the pair that were currently presenting but her mind kept circling back to the fact that her and Shelby were next and she felt increasingly like she was not going to make it through the presentation.

  Maybe she could back out now and say that she was too sick to present. But giving Carol another chance to ruin this did not seem wise, especially as she failed this time so next time she would try even harder.

  Shelby was sitting right next to her, looking just as anxious as Toni felt. Toni stared at her until Shelby obviously felt her gaze and turned around. Their eyes met. When she saw Toni her eyebrows scrunched together and she started searching for something.

  She pulled out a piece of paper and started scribbling. Toni waited anxiously to see what she was writing.

  Shelby pushed the note over to Toni. It read, 'Are you okay? You look very clammy.'

  Clammy? That painted a pretty unattractive picture. Toni was borderline offended. It was not at all how she wanted Shelby to see her. Toni scribbled back, 'I'm fine. The nerves are making me feel worse I think.'

  She chewed the end of her pencil as Shelby wrote back, 'Take a deep breath. You're going to do great. And if you hurl in front of the whole class I'm sure that Mr Winters will let us do it again.' Shelby stopped writing for a moment, gave Toni an apologetic look and kept writing, 'It would be super embarrassing for you though.'

  Toni chuckled quietly. She realised that the distraction made her feel better. Less nervous. She wrote back and Shelby clearly realised that it was helping as she continued writing notes about anything and everything. Toni thought it might have been helping Shelby too.

  "Shelby and Toni." Mr Winters brought her attention to the front of the classroom. A wave of anxiety flowed through her but she took a deep breath and stood up, waiting for Shelby to follow suit before walking to the front of the classroom.

  Shelby looked really nervous now. Seeing as the girl often did the morning announcements and participated in pageants, it shocked Toni that she was so anxious about presenting for a small classroom. Shelby's whole body was shaking and she was just all around jittery. Toni tried to make eye contact with her but Shelby was actively avoiding her gaze.

  The class was chatting loudly as Shelby connected her computer to the projector screen. She was struggling to fit the HDMI cable into the computer with her trembling hands. Toni leant over and took the cable from her hands. She was close enough to whisper to Shelby without looking it suspicious now.

  "What's going on with you?" She said under her breath, setting up the presentation as she spoke.

  "Nothing." She paused and took a trembly breath. "I don't want to screw this up for you."

  Toni was touched. She didn't know that Shelby cared that much. That she cared beyond the situation with Carol and the thing between them, that she cared about her dreams as well. Toni laughed quietly. "Leave that to me Goodkind. Just do your thing."

  After that the presentation was ready and Toni pulled away from Shelby and took position at the front of the class. Shelby stood next to her, calm, collected and focused.